Well here it is. Might be a while before the next one. I realized that it is almost exactly 3 years since I started this story as well. Seems like so long ago...I also realize that some of this will not mesh with the new Hobbit movies either, despite this being largely in Movieverse. I hope you can forgive that. Please enjoy!

Tinwe laughed along with her new friends as they rode back to the stables. She had another hour before dinner but she wanted to get cleaned up after her busy day.

"Tinwe, you should join us for dinner," Erynion said as he dismounted and began putting away his horse. "Daeron, Beinion, and Lancaeron are coming and I'm sure naneth will be happy to have another female in the house for a change."

"I would be happy to. I just need to go change and let my parents know."

"Excellent! Would you like me to come get you?"

"Sure, if that's alright. You know where my parent's home is correct?"

"I do," Faelon said, coming around the corner. "Glorothond used to have me over every once in a while."

"Great. I'll see you all later then."

"You're playing with fire, Tinwe," Isawen said solemnly as Tinwe braided her hair. She felt refreshed after a bath and had just told her mother she was going out for dinner.

"I will be working with these elves shortly, traveling around Mirkwood and beyond. If people can't handle me going to dinner with some of them, it's going to be an interesting time when I actually go on duty."

"Have you told Legolas?"

"No," she said, finishing her braid and turning to her mother. "But I am sure he will understand. I've already talked to him about spending time with other male elves."

"Well be careful," Isawen said, kissing her daughter's cheek. "We will see you when you get back."

There was a knock at the door. Tinwe answered, smiling up at Erynion.

"Mae govannen, Erynion," Tinwe said. "Please come in and meet my mother."

"It is a pleasure," Erynion said, kissing Isawen's hand.

"The pleasure is all mine," Isawen said with a smile. "I am happy to know my daughter has friends in her unusual career path."

"Unusual maybe, but she is well suited for it," he said. "Shall we, Tinwe?"

"Yes," she said taking his offered arm. "Bye naneth."

"Now, I am glad you agreed to join us for dinner," Erynion said as they walked down the corridor. "But is the Prince alright with it?"

"I did not tell him," Tinwe said simply. "I haven't seen him today. But do not worry. He will be happy that you are accepting me and will be alright with it."

"Are you sure? Faelon pointed out the rumors that have been going around…"

"I'm sure," Tinwe said with a smile. "I have spoken with him about it already. I mean, I will be serving with you all in the future, if I don't spend time with you now I will later anyway."

"Fair enough," he said.

A short while later they arrived at Faelon and Erynion's home. Tinwe had been warned that their mother would be enthusiastic about having another female in the house, but she was not entirely prepared for the excitement that met her when she walked through the door.

"Tinwe! Oh my, so good to finally meet you! I have heard so much. I am Raina, by the way. I am so glad you were allowed into the Guard! It is about time elleths were allowed in. You are certainly stirring up the system since you got back. I love hearing about your travels. I do not know your family personally, but I hear such amazing things from those who do. Is it true that the horse you ride came all the way from the Eastern deserts?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Tinwe said as soon as Raina stopped for breath. "And yes, Alagos is from the desert. She is a truly remarkable horse. And thank you so much for allowing me to join you this evening."

"Any time dear!" Raina said, taking Tinwe's arm and leading her into the dining room and forcing her into a chair. "You are always welcome in my home. I love my sons but I do miss having other female elves to talk to. I had two sisters you know. I see them frequently, but we all have our own families and it is hard to get together as often as we would like."

"Naneth exaggerates," Faelon said, sitting across from Tinwe as Erynion took the seat to her right. "She sees her sisters at least three times a week."

"But it is still not as often as I would like!" Raina said, sitting at the head of the table on Tinwe's left. "Go fetch your father out of his study, will you Faelon?" Faelon stood up with a smirk and disappeared into an adjacent room.

"I am sorry about Faelon. He likes to pick on me."

"I am sure it is out of love," Tinwe said with a smile. "Both your sons have been wonderful in welcoming me into the Guard. It makes me happy to know that not everyone thinks it is wrong for me to be training."

"Well they would get an earful from me if they weren't," Raina said, glaring at Erynion since Faelon was no longer there. "They know better than to judge someone on their gender."

"Yes, mother. You raised us well," Erynion said, smiling at his mother. She eyed him carefully, as if judging to see if he was being sincere or not. She let it go, and turned her gaze back to Tinwe.

"As soon as Faelon gets back with his father we can start eating. My husband Balamaethor is always working late. Daeron, Beinion, and Lancaeron are going to be late, correct?"

"Yes naneth. They said they would come as soon as they could so to start eating without them."

"Those boys are basically sons to me as well at this point," Raina said fondly. "Again you see why I crave female companionship so much." But Tinwe was only half listening. She had suddenly realized something.

"I didn't know Balamaethor was your father, Erynion," she said, turning to face him. He just shrugged.

"It's a limited thrill," he said. "You see why both Faelon and myself are on the Guard though."

"I'd be shocked if you weren't," Tinwe said seriously.

Balamaethor was a legend in his own right, and Tinwe couldn't believe she hadn't known her friends were his sons. He had fought under Oropher, Legolas's grandfather, and then Thranduil in the Battle of Dagorlad, where Sauron was defeated by the Last Alliance. He had saved Thranduil's life, so the stories went, and for that had been made Captain of the Guard upon their return to Greenwood the Great.

"Talking about me are you?" said a new voice. Tinwe turned and saw a tall, handsome elf walk into the room, a good-natured grin on his face. Balamaethor looked very much like his sons, with dark, kind eyes and a thin face. He kissed his wife's head and took a seat beside Faelon.

"I was just stating that I was surprised I did not know Faelon and Erynion were your sons. It is a really honor to meet you, my Lord," Tinwe said, bowing her head in respect. He returned it, his smile still in place.

"The honor is all mine," Balamaethor said. "It is a real treat to have you visit my home, Tinwe. And please, no need for formalities."

"You should have seen Tinwe at training today, ada," Erynion said as they began passing around dishes of food. "You would have been impressed."

"Really?" Balamaethor said, eyes meeting Tinwe's. "I would love to hear all about your first day."

"I did admirable I think," Tinwe said, slightly uncomfortable talking about her fighting skills in front of the former Captain of the Guard and a legend in battle. "But Erynion did far better than me at sword-fighting."

"Only because Arthonnen sought to kill her specifically," Erynion countered. "Seriously though, she was astounding. Her tracking and endurance were amazing."

"Well, I've had a lot of experience in those over the years. I'm sure a lot of young elves focus on their sword-fighting and archery and neglect other aspects of warfare."

"You are absolutely right," Balamaethor said as he stabbed a piece of fruit with his fork. "I always had to start at the beginning when it came to tracking when I trained new recruits. Though my methods were less hands-on then Tincore's."

"I like your methods better than Tincore's," Faelon said, looking up from his plate. "Especially in the sword-fighting. So many recruits walk away with injuries in the first couple weeks…"

"Sometimes you have to run before you can walk," Balamaethor said, glancing at his eldest son. "Tincore has done some remarkable work with the Guard. His methods may be unorthodox but they are affective."

Tinwe left dinner several hours after the meal had actually finished. Daeron, Beinion, and Lancaeron had arrived half way through the meal, and when they arrived, dinner got significantly rowdier. With all of them together, it was easy to see why Raina was so happy to have a female around. To her disappointment, however, Tinwe quickly joined in the revelry and only added to the rowdiness. The six young elves laughed and carried on, telling stories and jokes late into the night, long after Balamaethor and Raina had excused themselves. Tinwe had thanked both again for their hospitality, before she was distracted by Beinion telling a story about him and Daeron falling into Long Lake when they were sent to trade with the lakemen a couple centuries previous.

"You were out late," Isawen said as her daughter entered the living room. Tinwe smiled, kissing her mother's cheek.

"We were swapping stories. I had a lot of fun," Tinwe said. She fought to stifle a yawn as she felt her eyelids begin to droop. She had another early morning of Guard training, and knew bed was the best course of action right now. "Anyway, I need to go to bed. Goodnight naneth."

"Goodnight dear," Isawen said with a smile, returning to her book as Tinwe drifted off to her bedroom.

Training the next day was tougher than the first day, but Tinwe got through it, still running on her excitement at being allowed into the Guard. She was sad Erynion was not in her training group since they split into smaller units, but at least Arthonnen wasn't either. She was with four elves she did not know, but so far she got along with them well enough. They all walked away exhausted at dusk, after a day full of swordfighting and nonstop combat instruction. Tinwe was thankful tomorrow her group was tracking.

If she had thought training that day was difficult, it was nothing compared to the conversation she was forced to have that night. When she came home covered in sweat and dirty, the last thing she expected was to see Legolas sitting on the couch talking to her mother.

"Goodness gracious, Tinwe, I thought you looked rough yesterday when you came home," Isawen said, standing up to get a closer look at Tinwe. "What were you doing?"

"Sword training today," she said, looking down at herself. She really did look awful. "What are you doing here Legolas?" She hadn't meant it to sound rude, but after she said it she regretted her choice of words, especially with the look he gave her. Isawen tactfully chose that moment to disappear into the kitchen.

"Are you unhappy to see me?" he asked, sounding slightly hurt.

"Not at all!" Tinwe said quickly, taking off her sword and quiver, setting them down next to the door. "I am just surprised."

"Well since you failed to join me and my father for dinner last night I was worried about you." Tinwe said a very foul curse word she had learned from the eastern nomads.

"I'm so sorry Legolas, I forgot," she said, trying to look as sorry as possible. She really was sorry, but she knew it would sting telling him what exactly she had been doing last night instead. "I was invited to dinner last night with some friends."

"Guardsmen I presume," he said, frowning. Tinwe felt uncomfortable standing there like a guilty child as he looked up at her from the couch. She would have liked to sit and look him in the eye, but she knew her mother would not want all the dirt on her to migrate to the couch.

"Yes," she said softly, looking down, feeling dreadful about herself. "Faelon and his brother invited me to dinner with them."

"Tinwe," Legolas said, standing up and moving towards her. She looked up at him with what she hoped were sappy doe eyes that would melt his heart. He sighed as he looked down at her. Despite her filth, he pulled her into a hug. "I know you didn't forget on purpose. But I can't help but be angry at you for this."

"I know, and I completely deserve it," she said, leaning her head on his chest. "I wasn't thinking." Legolas just sighed and then fell silent. Tinwe made no effort to move, waiting for him to sort through his thoughts.

"If you agree to have dinner with me every night for the rest of the week, I guess I can forgive you this once," he said, and Tinwe could hear the humor in his voice. She smiled.

"Deal. Though," she said, looking up. "At least one night you have to eat here with my family. I'll be honest; I don't think I can handle your father's judgmental look three nights in a row."

"I understand," Legolas said, smiling down at her. "Just know, I am trying to convince him that you are worth it. But you are making it difficult. He was rather smug last night when you failed to show up. It seemed to prove to him that you were not reliable."

Tinwe swore again, frowning.

"I'm just digging myself deeper, aren't I?" she grumbled. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Don't forget again," Legolas said, kissing her. "I know you need to make friends on the Guard, but like I said, I'm a very jealous elf. If you decide to hang out with Faelon again instead of me, I might have to duel him."

"As much as I'd love to see that," Tinwe said, teasing, "I will do what I can. Now if you don't mind, I need to take a bath. I can feel the mud on me starting to peel off and my mother will not like it if it gets all over her floor."

The following night she took a quick bath and got ready to go to dinner with Legolas and his father. Her muscles were feeling a little stiff from the previous day's training, but the warm water helped soothe the aches. As much as she would have liked to soak in her bath, she knew she couldn't afford to be late to dinner after what happened last time. So she made sure to be ready for Legolas to get her at least half an hour before he said he would come get her.

She sat on the couch reading while she waited. It was an old book of military strategies from southern guerilla fighters she had met on the border of the forests. The tribes often fought one another, and because of their small numbers, they did not meet in battle as traditional armies did. She was fascinated by some of the doctrine they had taught her. She chose to reread the book they had given her to see if there was anything that would give her an edge in training. Nothing had jumped out at her by the time Legolas knocked on the door. Sighing, she stood up and went to answer the door.

"Good evening, my lord," she said, smiling. He smiled back, kissing her quickly before holding out his arm.

"Good evening, my love. Shall we?"

"Of course," Tinwe replied, letting him lead her out into the hall. "Any suggestions for me to try to get on your father's good side?"

"I'm afraid not," Legolas said softly. "The best I can do is to tell you to steer clear of talking about the Guard, but he will most likely bring it up himself so there isn't much you can do."

"Wonderful," Tinwe said sarcastically. "Anything I should bring up instead if I can?"

Legolas was silent for awhile, obviously thinking hard. Tinwe started to get worried that nothing she could say would be safe conversation with the King.

"Well your family might be alright to talk about. They are well liked and grounded people."

"I can do that," Tinwe said with a smile.

A short while later, they entered the dining hall, where King Thranduil was already seated at the head of the table, reading a lengthy piece of parchment. He looked up as they approached, his face impassive as he nodded a greeting to Tinwe. She curtsied politely and sat to his left and Legolas sat to his right.

"Good evening, your Majesty," Tinwe said as she sat, smiling pleasantly. He continued to gaze at her with his piercing blue eyes, so much colder than his son's, as he put down the parchment.

"Good evening Tinwe. How has your training been going?" Tinwe hadn't expected him to be so direct, but she was prepared and answered evenly.

"It is going well so far. I am enjoying it. My family has been wonderful in encouraging my pursuits."

"I suppose they are not worried about your safety considering how much traveling you have done alone."

"Oh no, they know that I will be well looked after in the Guard. My father has begun designs for a new sword for me to use as well."

Tinwe was trying to keep on the topic of family, but the King kept swinging the conversation back to the sensitive topics Legolas told her not to discuss. It was frustrating but Tinwe was determined to not get rattled.

"Your father is indeed a great blacksmith. I have not had the privilege of comparing your brother's work to his yet."

"Glorothond is also a great smith, but I do not think anyone can compare to my father. He made some wonderful work combining techniques from the dwarves with his own. I am very proud to call him my father."

"How does your mother feel about your constant traveling?" Thranduil asked, just when Tinwe thought they had reached a safe zone. Legolas apparently had thought the same thing, and he frowned at his father as the latter took a delicate bite fish.

"She worries, as any mother would, but she knows that traveling is what makes me happy and she respects my choices."

"How wonderful," Thranduil said, not at all looking like it was wonderful. Tinwe refrained from sighing out loud. It was going to be a long week.